Feb. 24, 2007
VALDOSTA, Ga. - Neither West Florida nor Valdosta State wanted the regular season to end on Saturday. West Florida squandered a 20-point second half lead, but it took Valdosta State three overtimes to earn a 98-92 win at The Complex. West Florida (10-17, 2-10 GSC) ended the season losing six of their last eight. Valdosta State (20-7, 8-4 GSC) swept the season-series from West Florida.
A Deondre Boynton (Pompano Beach, Fla./North Broward Prep) lay up gave West Florida a 63-43 advantage with 16:44 remaining in the game. Valdosta State cut the deficit to eight before West Florida went on a 6-0 run to build a 72-58 advantage with 7:11 remaining. But Valdosta State went on a 14-0 run over a five-minute span to tie the game at 72 with 2:10 remaining. Valdosta State held a two-point lead with 32 seconds remaining, but Barry Durosier (Orlando, Fla./Niagara Univ.) hit a jump shot with 12 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime tied at 76.
A total of four points were scored in the first overtime. Ricky Coleman gave Valdosta State a two-point lead with a tip-in off of a Herman Burge missed three-point field goal. With Valdosta State still leading by two, Boynton created a turnover and subsequent steal. Durosier received the outlet pass and was fouled by Burge. Durosier hit two free throws with 1:31 remaining to tie the game at 78. Both teams had an opportunity to take the lead in the final minute, but neither team was successful, and the game went into a second overtime.
With West Florida leading by one with 1:33 remaining in the second overtime, Burge converted two free throws to give Valdosta State a one-point lead. After Daniel Alcorn (Mt. Washington, Ky./Bullitt East HS) missed a three-point field goal, Burge returned to the free throw line and made one-of-two with 19 seconds remaining to give the Blazers a two-point lead. But Alcorn hit a game-tying jump shot with eight seconds remaining to send the game into a third overtime tied at 84.
In the third overtime, Lucas Evangelista (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Tallahassee CC) hit one-of-two free throws to give West Florida a 92-90 advantage. But Valdosta State ended the game on an 8-0 run en route to the win. Burge scored seven points during the run, including a three-point field goal with 1:09 remaining to give the Blazers a lead they would not relinquish.
Durosier led six Argonauts in double-figure scoring with 26 points while adding eight rebounds. Playing in his final West Florida game, Marcus Grant (Axis, Ala./Faulkner State CC) just missed a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds. Boynton finished with 12 points, while Evangelista added 12 points. Vitor Boccardo (Rio de Janiero, Brazil/Loyola Marymount Univ.) finished with 11 points. Mike Crain led four Blazers in double-figure scoring with 25 points, while Burge added 20 points.
